When North Carolina native Sherese Bonner graduated with an undergraduate degree in public policy from the University of Virginia, she came to two conclusions: she wanted to learn how public policy was implemented, and she was ready to come back to North Carolina. Those conclusions led her to the UNC Master of Public Administration program.
“I wanted to learn how we bring programs and policies to life through implementation,” Bonner said. “I am also from North Carolina and grew up right outside of Charlotte. I knew I wanted to come back eventually, and a great way to do that was to complete my graduate studies here.”
Bonner is one of 37 UNC MPA graduates who will receive their degrees this weekend in Chapel Hill. She has used her rich and varied experiences—including a Professional Work Experience (PWE) with the Federal Reserve Board, a John M. Belk Impact Fellowship, serving on the program’s Diversity Committee, and serving as a Research Assistant for the Local Government Workplaces Initiative (LGWI)—to secure a finalist position with the U.S. Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program. The inaugural Flo Miller Diversity in Public Service Scholarship recipient, Bonner has found many ways to apply her experiences in the MPA classroom to practical, real-world work.
Among her most meaningful experiences was her summer PWE with the Federal Reserve Board, which she continued during the academic year. Bonner began assisting with operations in the Large Institution Supervision Coordinating Committee. While working with human resources, she created a senior leadership onboarding manual, planned a training expo for bank regulators, and planned and hosting team-building activities. When the fall semester began, she transitioned to work with the Corporate Governance and Secretariat Team, where she worked on a policy gap analysis and joined senior leadership meetings.
“It’s been a tremendous and wonderful opportunity,” Bonner said. “I have been able to directly apply what I’ve learned in courses like Organizational Theory and Human Resources Management. It’s one of the best experiences of my graduate school career.”
With ongoing economic instability in the post-COVID era, Bonner also values the opportunity to watch the Federal Reserve response. “There is so much going on in our financial system, and I’ve had a front seat to what top decision-makers are thinking and doing in this really unique time. It’s been an amazing experience.”
Relationships with School of Government faculty, including Kimalee Dickerson and Leisha DeHart-Davis, were a valuable part of Bonner’s experience. She worked with DeHart-Davis in LGWI to carry out workplace climate surveys and advise local governments on best practices to improve workplaces. Her experiences with the initiative provided hands-on experience that directly translated to internships and fellowships.
“Dr. DeHart-Davis really trusts her research assistants to take on important projects, communicate with clients, and assist with deliverables,” Bonner said. “We’re meeting a critical need for local governments and that experience was very impactful. It added so many tools to my toolkit that I can carry forward in my career.”
Bonner also credits Dickerson for impacting her graduate school experience as advisor to the program’s student Diversity Committee. Through Dickerson’s “fantastic advice and support,” the committee put on a multitude of events for MPA students this year that tied diversity and equity to the public administration workplace.
Bonner also served as a John M. Belk Impact Fellow during her time in the MPA program. The fellowship serves as a training ground for future social impact leaders, placing students from graduate schools, four-year institutions, and community colleges in positions to support and advance education initiatives. Working in the Office of Governor Roy Cooper, Bonner assisted with an array of initiatives under the workforce policy advisor.
“I was able to work on projects related to early childhood transportation, youth apprenticeships, HBCU and minority-serving institutions, and prison education programs,” Bonner said. “It was great to apply much of what I studied during my undergraduate career and there were many connections to commerce that I’m hoping to use in my future work.”
The next chapter in Bonner’s journey will take her to Washington D.C. as a Presidential Management Fellow. PMF is the premier leadership development program for individuals launching careers in federal government. After a rigorous testing and interview process, Bonner landed a position in the Department of Commerce, working in the Office of Secretary Gina M. Raimondo. Her work as a program analyst will allow her to apply her MPA and professional experiences to policy implementation within the department’s 13 bureaus.
“Many bureaus need support with financial management, HR, contracts, risk management, and data governance to ensure smooth policy implementation,” Bonner said. “I’ll be working on a cross-cutting team to assist with this work in the Implementation Coordination Office.”
Bonner’s time in the classroom may be complete, but she will take her UNC MPA experiences with her every step of the way.
“I love North Carolina. UNC is a top tier institution and it was my dream school growing up. It felt like a full circle moment to end my time in higher education with a degree from Carolina.”
Now in its 26th year at the School of Government, the UNC-Chapel Hill Master of Public Administration program has once again been named one of “America’s Best Graduate Schools” by U.S. News & World Report in its 2024 rankings.
The program improved its ranking among the top 20 public affairs programs in the nation. It is ranked 19th overall and remains the top-ranked MPA graduate program in North Carolina. This marks the 11th consecutive year UNC MPA has maintained its position among the top 25 public affairs programs in the United States.
In addition, the program retained its prestigious second-ranked position in the local government management specialty area. UNC MPA also improved its ranking in the public finance and budgeting specialty, jumping four spots to rank 22nd in the country.
The program retained its top-20 standing in the public management and leadership field, ranking 13th overall.
This year’s list—released April 25, 2023—saw numerous University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate programs earn high rankings. UNC MPA joins 15 other University programs in increasing their rankings this year, including programs in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, School of Nursing, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Education, and Kenan-Flagler Business School. Rankings for graduate medical and law programs will be released at a later date.
Find all of the U.S. News & World Report rankings online.
UNC School of Government faculty member Carl Stenberg received the Legacy Award in March 2023 at the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Annual Conference. Given virtually by ASPA’s Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management (SIAM), this award celebrates public officials whose careers have “centered on advancing the study and practice of federalism in multiple roles.”
Legacy Award winners, an exclusive group, are recognized for making significant contributions to the academic literature on federalism, participating in a wide variety of assignments as part of SIAM, and taking active roles in the field—mentoring young public professionals in the infancy of their careers.
Stenberg has a long and established commitment to the Section, having joined in its founding and playing an instrumental role in advancing its mission to study, understand, and improve federal systems and other forms of intergovernmental relations.
His most recent Legacy Award adds to his collection of accolades from the Section—he has also won both of its Donald C. Stone Awards for practitioner and scholar contributions to the field.
As the nominator for Stenberg’s candidacy, School faculty member Kimberly L. Nelson was pleased to celebrate her colleague’s significant legacy in the field.
“Carl Stenberg has been a guiding force of ASPA’s (SIAM),” she said. “In 2014, he founded the Deil Wright Symposium at ASPA’s Annual Conference. The symposium continues today as the section’s main event, now heading into its 10th year. I can think of no other member who is more deserving of the Legacy Award.”
Willow S. Jacobson, director of the School’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, expressed similar esteem for Stenberg’s scholarship and its sustained positive impact within the public sphere.
“Carl is an example of a true engaged scholar, making a meaningful impact on the study and practice of public management,” she said. “His work in intergovernmental relations leaves a lasting legacy to students, the field of public administration, and communities across North Carolina.”
The James E. Holshouser Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Administration and Government, Stenberg joined the School’s faculty in 2003. He is past president of ASPA and served as director of the UNC MPA program at the School from 2006 to 2011. He teaches local government courses to public officials, including in the Public Executive Leadership Academy, and instructs MPA students. Stenberg holds a BA from Allegheny College and an MPA and Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Albany.
By Brandon Bieltz, University Communications, Monday, March 20th, 2023
Shayla Douglas launched into a career giving back to North Carolina as the downtown and small business development manager in Garner, North Carolina. Douglas is working to revitalize the downtown area and strengthen the economy of the Wake County town of 31,000.
For Shayla Douglas, success after college meant finding a way to give back to the state she calls home and working toward a better future for North Carolinians.
The double Tar Heel is doing just that as the downtown and small business development manager in Garner, North Carolina. Douglas is working to revitalize the downtown area and strengthen the economy of the Wake County town of 31,000 by supporting small businesses and attracting new ones to establish roots in the community.
Read the full story on UNC.edu.
The National Academy of Public Administration announced this week that School of Government faculty member Kimberly L. Nelson has been named to its 2022 Class of Academy Fellows.
The award is one of the most prestigious in the field of public administration. Nelson is one of 35 leaders to earn the honor this year and joins a roster that includes more than 950 Fellows all time. Fellows are former cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors and state legislators, as well as prominent scholars, business executives, nonprofit leaders, and public administrators.
“I am honored to have been elected as a fellow to the National Academy of Public Administration,” Nelson said.“I am proud to be a part of this distinguished organization and I look forward to working with other Fellows, including my School of Government colleagues, David Ammons, Leisha DeHart-Davis, and Carl Stenberg.”
Nelson is a professor of public administration at the School, educating public officials and teaching in the UNC MPA program. Her areas of expertise and research focus on local government management, local government form and structure, and municipal corruption. She is also co-editor of State and Local Government Review, the co-chair of the ICMA Graduation Education Committee, and is a co-author of Managing Local Government Services (2022, International City/County Management Association). Her scholarship has been featured in publications including Public Administration Review, State and Local Government Review, and American Review of Public Administration.
“This recognition for Kim is well-deserved and a great honor,” said Mike R. Smith, dean of the School of Government. “She has made significant contributions in the field of public administration, especially local government management. The Fellows are an impressive and diverse set of people; joining them is a wonderful achievement.”
Selection of the Academy’s new Fellows follows a rigorous review of the individual’s contributions to the field of public administration and policy. A Fellows Nominating Committee, selected by the Academy’s Board Chair, makes its recommendations to the full Fellowship, which then votes on those individuals nominated to be a Fellow.
Nelson will be inducted to the academy during its annual Fall Meeting, which will take place virtually and in-person November 2-4 at three host sites: Academy headquarters in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and the University of Connecticut in Hartford.
The National Academy of Public Administration is an independent, nonprofit, non-partisan organization established in 1967 and chartered by Congress in 1984. As outlined in its Congressional charter, the Academy seeks to advance government practices through studies and projects held to the highest standards of efficiency and excellence.
Leisha DeHart-Davis is the most recent member of the UNC Master of Public Administration faculty to win national recognition for her scholarship. An article she co-authored, “Gender, Race, and Experiences of Workplace Incivility in Public Organizations“, was recently selected as a co-winner of the 2022 Best Article Award for Vol. 41 of the Review of Public Personnel Administration (ROPPA).
In choosing this annual award, ROPPA aims to celebrate research that examines important topics in public administration, advances the knowledge base around it, and raises questions for the field to address moving forward.
A troubling trend public sector organizations have recently faced is a shortage of workers, particularly in retaining them in governmental positions and losing them to the private labor market. To address this, DeHart-Davis and colleagues from Ohio State University, the University of Connecticut, and the University of Massachusetts Boston sought to examine how the public sector can remain competitive in retaining this sector of the workforce. The answer they found? Create an environment where coworkers treat each other well across gender, race, and other assorted demographics.
“Workplace incivility has been on the rise for a while and can hamper a government organization’s ability to retain good workers. Retention is a particularly important goal for government organizations given the worker shortages they face,” DeHart-Davis said. “To be competitive in the labor market, government organizations need to offer great workplaces, which include employees being respectful of one another.”
To arrive at this conclusion, the School’s Local Government Workplaces Initiative—a program led by DeHart-Davis which conducts research that helps cities and counties improve their workplace climates—collected data responses from a survey asking employees about a range of workplace experiences. The data for the paper was based on responses from two cities and two counties.
For DeHart-Davis, the collaborative approach to addressing this issue of increasing public sector retention perfectly illustrates the unique opportunity the School can provide to its scholars, when connected with other institutions of academia, to connect theory with practice and find concrete solutions to pressing public sector challenges. To be recognized by ROPPA was a welcome honor for the research team, fostering a needed dialogue around strategies to improve human resource management within government.
“ROPPA is a great journal, so it’s an honor to be published there,” said DeHart-Davis. “This award reflects the work of a team of talented researchers from all over the country. It also demonstrates how engaged scholarship works: that practitioner-relevant data can translate to academic research on public sector organizational dynamics.”
When it was time for Maggie Bailey ’21 to look for her first post-MPA job, she didn’t have to look far. She found the right fit within the walls of the School of Government, joining the School’s Criminal Justice Innovation Lab as its second project manager. The role was a natural transition for Bailey after serving as a research assistant in the Lab as a student.
“The Lab has afforded me the opportunity to leverage skills I gained in the MPA program,” Bailey said. “The program does a great job bridging theory and practice. The practitioner’s lens is evident in all the work the School of Government does. It’s exciting to work on projects that directly support stakeholders and inspiring to see how those stakeholders make measurable changes.”
The Lab is one of 10 entrepreneurial initiatives at the School. These specialized, public-service oriented units focus on a variety of critical issues, including public service leadership, criminal justice, economic development and community revitalization, and environmental finance. They generate local government fellowships, produce public policy analysis, and educate public defenders. As this work expands and grows, these initiatives are forging deep connections with UNC MPA alumni and students to support their efforts.
Jess Dorrance (’04) returned to the School in 2021, joining the ncIMPACT Initiative as research director after working at the UNC Center for Community Capital. Returning to the School to work on research and evaluation was “such an easy decision” for Dorrance. With ncIMPACT and UNC’s Carolina Across 100 initiative, Dorrance has the chance to continue deploying skills she first learned as an MPA student.
“The curriculum, the things I learned, and the relationships that began with MPA have carried through the years,” Dorrance said. “At its essence, our work at the ncIMPACT Initiative is about collaboration. That was such a big part of MPA: working collaboratively with groups, with cohort members, and directly with organizations or communities to help them solve problems or address issues.”
MPA students engage in the work of entrepreneurial initiatives by serving as research assistants, graduate assistants, or conduct their Professional Work Experiences (PWEs) with initiatives, generating practical scholarship that leads to real-world impacts in North Carolina communities. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that expands the work of initiatives, provides unique, hands-on learning experiences for students, and allows public officials to gain the resources they need.
“Our students move foundational research forward and take on projects that help us be responsive to stakeholder needs,” Bailey said. “Students learn about criminal justice in North Carolina and work on projects directly affecting people’s lives. We’re lucky to have programs like UNC MPA as partners.”
Bailey and Dorrance join other MPA alumni providing leadership to innovative entrepreneurial initiatives at the School. That list includes Dylan Russell ’17, executive director of Lead for North Carolina; Emily Williamson Gangi ’01, policy engagement director for the ncIMPACT Initiative; and Lydian Altman ’84, teaching assistant professor for the Center for Public Leadership and Governance. Each program benefits not only from the expertise of these alumni, but also from the practical skillset of the MPA students supporting them.
“Our team is fairly small, which allows us to be adaptable and responsive,” Dorrance said. “But we are tasked with completing a significant amount of work with limited staff capacity. The MPA students help boost that capacity and bring their enthusiasm, skills, and diverse perspectives to enhance our work.”
The School of Government is pleased to congratulate North Carolina native and UNC MPA graduate Philip Rogers ‘05 on his election as 12th chancellor of East Carolina University. Rogers’s appointment was formalized by the UNC System Board of Governors on December 17, 2020.
“Given my previous experience at ECU and the wide array of authentic relationships I’ve maintained with university stakeholders through the years, I am confident in my ability to be an asset to the university and region from day one,” Rogers said in a release from ECU. “It is also vital to lead with a listening ear and servant’s heart when considering the top priorities to address together as a university.”
Rogers graduated with his MPA from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2005. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Wake Forest University and a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.
“Philip’s election as 12th chancellor of East Carolina University is not by accident,” said MPA Program Director William Rivenbark. “From the time he matriculated as a student, Philip wanted to pursue a public service leadership position with passion. He also understood the importance of embracing a lifestyle of ethics, integrity, and hard work to serve others in our society. His role at ECU is an embodiment of our program’s mission statement to prepare future public service leaders. We are very proud of him.”
In nominating Rogers for the position, UNC System President Peter Hans described Rogers as “a driven leader who brings energy and vitality to ECU. He has broad national higher education experience and deep local roots in Greenville. Philip is invested in ECU for the long haul and will bring steady, stable leadership.”
Rogers previously served as chief of staff at ECU from 2008–13. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of learning and engagement for the American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington, D.C. While with ACE, he was responsible for the organization’s academic, research, and innovation strategy. Rogers is slated to begin his duties as ECU chancellor on March 15, 2021.
UNC MPA alumna and former School of Government Foundation Board member Elizabeth Biser ‘17 has been appointed Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Biser took her oath of office on July 1, 2021 in Raleigh.
“I am honored and humbled to lead the agency charged with providing environmental stewardship for the health and prosperity of all North Carolinians,” Biser said in a release announcing her appointment. “I look forward to working with key leaders, stakeholders and people throughout North Carolina to fulfil this important mission.”
Biser will be charged with oversight of North Carolina DEQ, which protects the state’s environment and natural resources. Its programs seek to safeguard air, water, land, coastal fisheries, and the public’s health; the agency also offers technical assistance and encourages responsible behavior and respect toward the environment. Her appointment is subject to confirmation by the North Carolina Senate.
Biser was appointed to the position by Governor Roy Cooper in late June. She most recently served as president of Biser Strategies LLC and senior policy advisor for The Recycling Partnership.
“Elizabeth Biser is a strong leader who has experience with this environmental agency and knows its critical work in North Carolina,” Cooper said upon Biser’s appointment.
Biser is a double graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, holding a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Public Administration. She has a strong background in environmental affairs. In addition to her work at Biser Strategies LLC, she served as vice president of policy and public affairs at The Recycling Partnership, government relations and policy director for Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, and as director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (the predecessor of DEQ). Biser served on the School’s Foundation Board from 2019 to 2021.
The School of Government is excited to welcome Teshanee Williams into its faculty ranks as an assistant professor of public administration and government. Williams originally joined the School in 2019 as a Carolina Postdoctoral Program Faculty Diversity Fellow, researching strategies to manage effective, efficient, and equitable policy outcomes through the public sector and nonprofit partnerships. In her new role, Williams will continue to specialize in the field of nonprofit management and lead the School in researching and advising on effective management, leadership, and governance of nonprofit organizations in collaboration with local governments.
For Williams, the drive to work in public service—specifically in the field of nonprofits—was borne of a desire to help not just individuals but whole communities create lasting change. After the completion of her undergraduate degree in psychology, Williams contemplated pursuing a career in mental health but realized a broader lens would allow her to contend with the sweeping, structural issues she sought to address.
“There are problems that are bigger than one patient,” Williams said. “It was at that point that I realized that I wanted to focus on research that identifies solutions to systemic issues that affect individual people in their day to day lives.”
She turned to public administration as a career. She completed her master’s in the field in 2016 and a Ph.D. in 2019, both from North Carolina State University. She shortly thereafter joined the School as a fellow, researching nonprofit management and bridging the gap between theory and practice to make a tangible impact in communities across the state.
“Nonprofits engage in providing or organizing a myriad of human and social service needs,” Williams said. “They function to fill in the gaps to meet the needs of our communities. These organizations play a major role in doing ‘the work, for the people.’”
While building out her research in the field, Williams found the School to be an ideal host for her work to translate academia into action.
“I enjoy doing research that helps to inform and create impact. The School is unique in that approach to engaging in academic research,” Williams said. “I had the opportunity to receive mentorship and guidance that truly helped me to advance my research agenda.”
United under this mission to improve the lives of North Carolinians, Williams credited the camaraderie among the faculty and staff as instrumental in her desire to advance her research commitments and academic career at School.
“My time here gave me the opportunity to understand how the school really functions to meet its mission,” she said. “The level of support that I received played a huge part in my desire to join the faculty.”
Looking ahead to her professorship, Williams welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues who share her passion for leveraging scholarship to improve public well-being.
“I am mostly excited about working with a group of people that demonstrate the public service mindset in everything that they do,” she said. “As public administrators, we engage in the work that we do to improve our communities while also improving the field of public administration.”
In addition to advising on nonprofit and local government relations, Williams will instruct in the School’s top-ranked Master of Public Administration program—teaching courses on nonprofit management, research methods, and program evaluation—and complete research on nonprofit-local government relations and issues of social equity.
Williams has served as a research analyst for the North Carolina State Auditor’s Office and the Office of Partnership and Economic Development at North Carolina State University. Her research interests include the application of mixed-method approaches for inquiries related to strategic alliances between the public sector and nonprofits as well as public participation in decision-making processes. Her research fellowship at the School allowed her to examine effective policymaking through public sector and nonprofit partnerships. Since joining the School, Williams has co-authored two bulletins assessing community capacity to disaster response and COVID-19. Her peer-reviewed article on the role of social capital in organization is forthcoming in the Community Development Journal.
The School is pleased to welcome Williams as a full faculty member and looks forward with optimism to seeing her public management expertise produce effective policy outcomes for the people of North Carolina.